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FOREIGN INVESTMENT IS VITAL IF THE STATE ELECTRICITY COMPANY, EDH, IS TO SATISFY THE 24-HOUR-A-DAY ENERGY DEMANDS OF HAITI'S 133 DISTRICTS

POWERING THE LAND The government is exploring the possibility of using alternative energy sources such as water.

Haiti has a serious lack of generating capacity which has resulted in frequent blackouts and a total of four hours of power a day in most of the country. The government’s priority is to remedy this situation as soon as possible, and parliament has proposed three options regarding the modernization of state companies: a management contract, concession and capitalization.
Pierre François Sildor, who has worked at the state-run electricity company EDH (Electricité d’Haiti) for 17 years and was made Managing Director two years ago, believes that capitalization is the best option and that the solution is to cooperate with the domestic and foreign private sectors. The first steps have already been taken. “An eight month contract has been signed with Miami-based Energy International and Haytian Tractor,” he says, “ and a second nine year contract has also been signed with a private engineering firm based in the Dominican Republic.” These two contracts will produce a total of 70 megawatts to overcome electricity rationing in Port-au-Prince and make this service available to investors.

The government also intends to modernize the energy sector through further private-public partnerships all over the country. A presidential plan called “Invertir en l’Humain” (Invest in the Human) aims at producing 300 to 400 more megawatts over a five-year period. “The goal is to set up electricity throughout all of Haiti’s 133 districts,” explains Mr. Sildor. The question is which power source to invest in. As there are no charcoal-gas resources and the country’s hydro-electric potential is weak, the initial plan is to set up diesel stations to produce the necessary power, but other sources, such as water and solar power, also need exploring.

The current lack of electricity is a result of the socio-political setbacks and administrative inefficiency that have beset the country since 1986. “In 1991, when Mr. Aristide got his first mandate, we started a plan to solve the problem,” says Mr. Sildor. The military dictatorship disrupted this and, three years later, when Mr. Aristide returned, EDH invested in the installation of an average of 41 megawatts. This amount was already inadequate how-ever, as the original plan to increase production up to 7 megawatts a year had been weakened by the zero activity between 1986 and 1994. By as late as 1999, the Lavalas government had only installed 41 megawatts.
“The deficit still exists and the demand is rising daily,” says Mr. Sildor. Accordingly, EDH has difficulty meeting the government’s target of 24 hours of electricity a day. “We can only try to satisfy the demand for commercial and
industrial sectors during the daytime, and for residential quarters at night,” he points out. A further drawback is collection, with problems commonly arising in marginal suburbs (‘bidonvilles’, in French). He is now working on building an electricity co-operative system which may offer service opportunities at a lower price. He is aware that the current rationing situation presents little incentive to pay bills, but hopes the planned improvements will change this.

Mr. Sildor feels the international view of Haiti is slowly improving and changing, but has reservations about the local private sector since it tends to look for quick profits rather than long-term investments. He would like to see it collaborate with both the local public sector and international private sector with a view to participating in EDH’s modernization plans.